The Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators will face off in a pair of regular-season games in Stockholm, Sweden as part of the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series, the league announced Friday.

The games will be play played at the Ericsson Globe on Friday, Nov. 10, and Saturday, Nov. 11.

"We have more Swedish players than ever in the NHL, and we are extremely pleased that the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series will allow us to showcase a number of those players, with their NHL teams, in their homeland," said commissioner Gary Bettman. "The return of regular-season NHL games to the international stage will provide yet another highlight for our Centennial celebration."

Both team captains - Erik Karlsson and Gabriel Landeskog - hail from Sweden, and it will be extra special for the latter, a Stockholm native.

"It's really exciting," Landeskog said. "Who thought they would have been able to play NHL games in your hometown. It'll be surreal to do that. Stockholm is such a great hockey town and a great city overall. I'll be really excited to show the boys around and show the team staff around the city."

The games will mark the first to be played outside North America since 2011, when four teams opened their regular seasons in various rinks around Europe.

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Sidney Crosby didn't have much to say about a slash that shattered Marc Methot's finger and will keep the Ottawa defenseman off the ice for weeks.

The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar explained what happened after the eventual shootout loss to the Senators Thursday, saying he's been on the other end, albeit not quite as gruesomely.

Related: Crosby hacks off portion of Methot's finger

"I'm just trying to get his stick and I think I caught his finger judging by his reaction and (the Senators') reaction," he told reporters after the game. "I've gotten those before, they don't feel good."

No penalty was called on the play, and no supplementary discipline is expected.

The Penguins and Senators, by the way, won't meet again this season, pending an Eastern Conference finals matchup, at which point Methot could potentially be back in the lineup.

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Much ado about nothing.

That's what hockey legend and Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux believes is being made of New York Islanders rookie forward Josh Ho-Sang donning his iconic No. 66 on the back of his jersey.

"I'm fine with it," Lemieux said Thursday through a Penguins spokesperson, according to Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's just a number. No. 4 and No. 9 were worn by great players (Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe, respectively), and they are not retired forever. Players can choose whatever number they want."

Ho-Sang, for the record, has said he wears 66 to honor Lemieux, and he's free to do so as the number, unlike Wayne Gretzky's 99, hasn't been retired across the NHL.

Many have and continue to wear Howe and Orr's numbers, and therefore Lemieux's is fair game as well, although only one player (T.J. Brodie of the Calgary Flames in 2011) had chosen it prior to Ho-Sang since the Penguins great retired in 2006.

The Islanders visit Pittsburgh on Friday, where No. 66 will take to the ice once again, and with no offense taken by Lemieux.

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Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.

Flip a coin.

The Boston Bruins' shot at the postseason fell to nearly even odds following a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

With the victory, the Lightning climbed to within three points of the East's second wild-card slot, held by the Bruins, while Tampa Bay also holds a game in hand.

The Western Conference didn't see as much movement. A 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames pushed the Nashville Predators closer to a playoff lock. Nashville has nine games remaining on the season and is back in action Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.

Here are the notable swings following Thursday's busy schedule:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

To see percentages for the entire NHL, visit Sports Club Stats.

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DENVER - Drake Caggiula and Jordan Eberle scored 1:10 apart to break a tie late in the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 7-4 on Thursday night.

Eberle scored twice in Edmonton's five-goal third period and also added an assist. Zack Kassian and Leon Draisaitl also scored in the rally that moved Edmonton into a tie with Anaheim for second in the Pacific Division with 89 points.

Andrej Sekera had a goal and two assists, Milan Lucic also scored and Laurent Brossoit had five saves in relief of Cam Talbot to lead Edmonton to the win.

The Oilers tied it early in the third and then scored three times in the final 2:11. Caggiula beat Jeremy Smith to give Edmonton a 5-4 lead, Eberle added to it and Draisaitl scored into an empty net in the final minute to seal it.

Mikko Rantanen had two goals, J.T. Compher and Rene Bourque had a goal each and Nathan MacKinnon finished with two assists for Colorado.

The Avalanche got early goals from Rantanen and Compher to take a 2-0 lead but Edmonton tied it with goals by Sekera and Lucic 57 seconds apart spanning the first and second periods.

Rantanen broke the tie at 4:22 of the second with his second of the night, and Bourque's 12th of the season at 17:45 made it 4-2.

Talbot gave way to Brossoit to start the third, but it was Edmonton's offense that sparked the comeback. Kassian started it when he snuck behind Smith to knock in the puck sitting in front of the empty net at 2:44 of the third.

Eberle, who assisted on Lucic's goal, tied it at 4:34 with his 15th of the season.

NOTES: Edmonton C Connor McDavid increased his lead in the scoring race with two assists. He has 87 points, six ahead of Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby. ... The Avalanche have been outscored 22-10 during their four-game losing streak and 28-15 in the last seven games. ... Colorado C Joe Colborne finished with two assists.

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ST. LOUIS - Magnus Paajarvi scored twice to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Kyle Brodziak and Alex Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues who won their fourth straight to give them nine wins in their last 10. Jake Allen made 27 saves for his seventh win in eight starts while allowing just nine goals in the stretch.

Henrik Sedin scored for the Canucks who have lost seven of their last eight to fall to 11-22-3 on the road. Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots.

Brodziak snapped an 11 game goal scoring drought when he roofed a slap shot by Miller late in the second period for his eighth goal of the season to put the Blues up 2-1.

Paajarvi added some insurance when he scored his second of the game and eighth of the season midway through the third period. That gave him the second multi-goal game of his career and first since Feb. 5, 2011, with Edmonton.

Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins challenged the goal saying that the Blues were offside entering the zone but the video replay proved inconclusive.

Pietrangelo capped the scoring with at 2 1/2 minutes left.

Sedin opened the scoring for Vancouver when he scored his 15th of the season.

Paajarvi tied the game when he pushed his own rebound past Miller.

NOTES: St. Louis C Paul Stastny was scratched as he is out week-to-week with a lower body injury. ... St. Louis has now earned a point in six consecutive games against the Canucks, going 5-0-1 in that span. ... Canucks C Henrik Sedin now has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his last 16 games.

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OTTAWA - Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan scored in the shootout to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

Mike Hoffman scored in regulation for the Senators and Mike Condon finished with 34 saves, including two incredible point-blank stops in overtime to keep the game going.

Nick Bonino had the goal in regulation for the Penguins and Matt Murray stopped 29 shots.

After being outplayed for much of the first two periods, the Senators were much better in the third and tied the score 1-1 on the power play at 9:43 as Hoffman beat Murray over the shoulder with a wrist shot just 14 seconds after Matt Cullen was penalized for holding.

Ottawa played the final 45 minutes without defenseman Marc Methot, who left the game with a bloodied and mangled finger on his left hand following a two-handed slash from Sidney Crosby. Crosby didn't receive a penalty on the play.

Methot grabbed Crosby by the jersey after the whistle and had a few words for the Penguins' captain before leaving the ice.

After being stopped on a partial break earlier in the period, Bonino opened the scoring at 9:21 of the second on the front half of a double-minor to Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf. Bonino moved in from the point and took a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle that went bar down and in behind Condon.

Zack Smith had a chance to tie it seconds later when he was sent in alone, but shot wide, narrowly missing his fifth short-handed goal of the season.

The opening period, despite not having any goals, wasn't without its moments, including a huge windmill save by Murray off a shot by Ryan Dzingel seven minutes in.

Hoffman had another great opportunity for the Senators but his rocket of a shot late in the period rang off the crossbar.

NOTES: Jyrki Jokipakka, Fredrik Claesson, Chris DiDomenico and Mark Stone were scratches for the Senators. ... Cameron Gaunce, Tom Sestito, Jake Guentzel, Carl Hagelin, Ron Hainsey and Evgeni Malkin were the scratches for the Penguins. ... Ottawa G Craig Anderson will have to wait at least until Saturday to play in his 500th career game. ... Penguins F Oskar Sundqvist turned 23-years-old Thursday.

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It's safe to say Mike Babcock has been doing his fair share of scoreboard watching these days.

Who could blame him? The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing some inspired hockey down the stretch and with Thursday's win over the New Jersey Devils, now have a five-point cushion on a playoff spot.

It's certainly a far cry from last season.

Related: Maple Leafs' Komarov: This time last year we were packing our bags

With two straight wins and a fortunate four-game losing streak by the Boston Bruins, the Maple Leafs have now created a three-point gap on their Atlantic rivals and now sit third in the division.

It's an exciting time in Leaf Land.

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